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I pledge to undertake small acts of peaceful sabotage to disrupt the propaganda of the 5 media billionaires.

The Pledge

Anti-democratic media owners in the UK hold a monopoly over public opinion and consciousness. They actively downplay climate change, promote endless war and hatred of vulnerable people. Let's peacefully sabotage the corrupt corporate media by reducing its visibility within news outlets. Alternative messages can also be stuck to free newspapers or they can be soaked in water!

The Actions

Here are some different actions you can take: be mischievous and have fun!

Move or hide newspapers, turn them over, put others on top, put them elsewhere in the supermarket

Place information about media bias / ownership / propaganda in with news papers

There is nothing illegal in moving newspapers to other locations within newsagents, or turning them over, or putting them underneath other ones (you might be best to do it unseen by the newsagent nevertheless). For FREE newspapers (like the Metro) we understand it is not illegal to attach stickers to them or insert flyers (you could use the Occupied Sun flyer here for example) or event to soak a whole pile in water! This is because they are free to move from the stands they are on by anyone, so in principle don't belong to anyone! The Metro news is part of the Daily Mail group.

We would like to garner interest in doing a month of actions in a coordinated way. However feel free to start sooner! This pledge does not require safety in numbers and so feel free to begin your actions as soon as you sign! Its good fun! you can do this on your own and its even better if you can work in a small team- two or more people to enjoy the peaceful mischief! MAKE SURE you spend some time sharing how it went for you with other people -either meet up for a cuppa and a chat or post on the Rising Up facebook page.

The Issues

80% of all UK media (Newspapers, magazines, TV and radio) are owned by just 5 billionaires (owned by Rupert Murdoch (Sun, Times), the Barclay brothers (Telegraph), Richard Desmond (Express) and Viscount Rothermere (Mail)). With huge influence over public opinion and consciousness, they are negligently misreporting the dangers of the climate crisis and in many cases obstructing the fight against climate change by taking a pro-fracking, pro-fossil fuel industry stance. Tony Bliar's war drummer in chief, Rupert Murdoch has a personal stake in Genie Oil and Gas - a company who specialise in fracking. They also promote hatred of migrants, poor and disabled people and actively campaign against policies and leaders promoting equality.

The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, together with the Media Reform Coalition, have published a manifesto for media reform that Rising Up! supports. Reflecting on who we can turn to to find out the truth about our public affairs, the manifesto tables demands concerning: